


Conduit Creed

by Assassin_J



Category: Assassin's Creed, inFAMOUS (Video Games), inFAMOUS: Second Son
Genre: AU - Superpowers, Canon Gay Relationship, Canon Queer Characters, Crossover/Fusion, Gen, Headcanon Queer Characters, Templar Daniel, Trans Male Character, post good-karma Second Son
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 03:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8354692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassin_J/pseuds/Assassin_J
Summary: A mandatory DNA screening comes back with a result that thoroughly unsettles Juhani.NAME: BERG, ELINA URSULADOB: 2009-10-22RESULT: BT-POSITIVE(...or if you want a more informative summary: a bunch of the modern Assassins have recently manifested Conduit powers, Elina is a power sponge, and Juhani is a Worrying Templar Dad Bear)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> inspired off some stuff thought up by Connor on tumblr
> 
>  _Isi_ is kid-speak for "father" in Finnish.

Juhani was staring at his laptop screen. He had been staring at it for some time now.

The first block of text was not the issue.

NAME: BERG, JUHANI OTSO  
DOB: 1985-06-17  
RESULT: BT-NEGATIVE

The standard result. The same result that had come back for every other agent under his purview, and for all his agents' family members as well.

The second block of text- with result blaring bold and red- _that_ was what had caused a lump of palpable horror to form deep in the pit of his stomach.

NAME: BERG, ELINA URSULA  
DOB: 2009-10-22  
RESULT: **BT-POSITIVE**  


Positive. How could she be _positive_? She was a sweet ray of sunshine, a six-year-old girl who'd never even harmed a fly. By what ridiculous stretch of imagination could anyone think she was a _bio-terrorist_?

The screen dimmed, an automatic response to five minutes of inactivity. Juhani squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled deeply.

Abstergo's protocol mandated that individuals found BT-positive were to be reported at once; to be safely contained and transferred to the custody of D.U.P. forces. He'd never given much thought to what became of the individuals after that. Some, he knew, were reformed and trained as D.U.P. agents, dispatched in teams to round up the more dangerous and disorderly of their kind.

But...there had to be many bio-terrorists who refused to obey and submit. What became of these rebellious ones? Were they executed? Dissected for study? Kept alive for experimentation? Or simply kept prisoner indefinitely?

"Elina," Juhani breathed, reopening his eyes. She was a headstrong, willful child. She would suffer the fate of those less-obedient ones.

If he reported her, that is.

The lump in his stomach threatened to come up and out from his mouth. He swallowed hard and put his hand on the mouse.

She could not be a bioterrorist.

He deleted the message.

* * *

He was acutely aware of the flames from the gas stove as he prepared dinner that night, and acutely aware of the ice cubes in his glass as he sat down to eat. Every substance around him jumped out as possible bioterrorist ammunition.

He watched Elina fiddle with her pasta, twirling it several times around her fork. Her _metal_ fork.

He took a slow drink of water ( _water_ ) and ordered himself to remain calm.

She could not be a bioterrorist.

There was a mistake in the test. That was the only plausible explanation. Elina's cystic fibrosis, though controlled by the drugs, was still within her, written in her genes, and had obviously confounded the testing.

He would take her to be retested more precisely. He would oversee the analysis himself.

And, on the slim _slim_ chance that the same result came back, he would do whatever was necessary to delay his superiors finding out.

* * *

" _Isi_ , nooo!" Elina wailed when he grabbed the remote and switched off her gibbering cartoon show.

"It is past your bedtime," Juhani stated firmly.

"I wanna watch SpongeBob!"

"It is past your bedtime," he repeated, "and we are leaving early tomorrow, so you must go to bed promptly."

Elina grudgingly stood. "Why are we leaving early?"

Juhani pondered briefly on how best to word his answer. "The doctors. They need to take your blood again."

Elina looked taken aback. "Again?! Why?!"

"There was a problem with the test."

"What problem?"

Juhani ground his jaw. "...The specifics are unimportant. But you must retake the test."

"I don't like doctor tests! You said if I keep taking my pills I don't needa see doctors no more!"

"This is not about your condition; it is a different sort of test."

"I don't care!" Elina yelled and stamped her feet. "I don't like _any_ doctor tests! I wanna watch SpongeBob!"

"You have watched enough of that inane yellow cube!" Juhani snapped. "Now stop arguing and go to your room!"

"I don't wanna!"

Juhani had had enough. "We cannot always do whatever we want!" He took hold of her hand and led her to her room, though she dragged her feet in protest. She resisted when he tried to change her into pajamas. "All right! Then sleep in your day clothes, see if I care!" He set her in bed and drew the covers up around her.

She pouted intensely at him, brow furrowed and arms tightly crossed.

He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "There are rules and order to the world, Elina," he said, with less anger in his voice now, "and your life will be quite miserable if you persist in rebelling like this."

She turned over in the bed to face the window, arms still crossed.

Juhani switched her nightlight on and the ceiling light off. Hopefully, she would be more agreeable after a good night's sleep.

* * *

"Hey guys! I found a-" Rebecca paused mid-sentence. "Guys? Where is everyone?" She stepped briskly across the empty entryway and continued down into the central meeting area.

William was the only one there, and he didn't even look up from the newspaper he was reading as he heard Rebecca approach.

"Hey, where'd everyone go at this time of night?"

"They went out," William answered gruffly. "To do... Conduit things." He flipped the last page of his newspaper section and carefully folded it back into a neat-as-new rectangle.

"What's Conduit?"

William blinked at the small child who'd asked the question. "Rebeccaa? Who is this?"

"Elina," Rebecca and the child said simultaneously. They grinned at each other a moment, then Rebecca continued with "I found her on the street, alone. Think she ran away." 

"What's Conduit?" Elina asked again.

"People with special powers," Rebecca told her, kneeling down to her eye level. "You've seen them on the news, right?"

"Uhmm. Maybe," Elina said.

"Is there a reason you didn't take her back home?" William asked.

Elina suddenly scrunched her face up in a pout. "Don't wanna go home. _Isi_ was mean."

"Ah," William said. "And who is Isi?"

"...A mean poop head."

"Okay, let's just forget about Isi right now." Rebecca patted her shoulder. "How about we have a snack or something?"

After a moment, Elina's expression softened a bit. "Can we watch SpongeBob while we eat?"

Rebecca laughed. "Sure, I think I can arrange that."


	2. Chapter 2

"Needa step up your game, Paper Boy!"

"Fuck you," Shaun hissed under his breath, and threw his hand out to send a half-dozen paper shards flying towards Desmond's face.

Desmond just laughed and put up his shield again; the shards bounced away uselessly.

"How does that work?!" Shaun roared at him. "Your power is bloody _light_ , how in the world do you make a _shield_!?"

Desmond shrugged. "Fuck if I know, man." He grinned down at his free hand, yellow energy streaming over each fingertip. "Alls I know is this Conduit shit is _sweet_."

A jagged metal dagger squealed through the air from behind Shaun. He _poff_ ed into a cloud of paper bits, leaving the dagger's path free and clear. With a _shingk_ it ripped a hole through Desmond's hardlight shield and barely missed hitting his shoulder.

"Jesus!" Wide-eyed Desmond looked to the source of the dagger. "You tryna kill me, Galina?"

"Trying to test you," Galina said with a smirk, and flung two more daggers his way.

In an instant Desmond transformed to a ball of photons and darted up to her.

Unable to deal with the brightness suddenly in her face, she flinched and covered her eyes. A glittering stream flowed out from the Desmond-ball, and she found herself wrapped and immobile.

After reforming to normal, Desmond looked down at her with a smirk of his own. "Did I pass the test?"

The smirk was wiped from his face when something zappy hit him square between the shoulderblades. He spun around and put up his shield again, scanning his surroundings.

A projectile landed at his feet and exploded into a giant smokescreen, around and behind the shield, making him cough and sputter. Another zap hit his foot- he wanted to dash over behind the dumpster for cover, but his body wouldn't cooperate- he fell backwards across Galina's legs, entwined in colorful strands.

Two beefy men walked up to him as the smoke fell away. Desmond frowned. "Hey, no fair you two working together."

Harlan leaned an arm on Arend's shoulder. "What, I'm supposed to just leave my hubby to fend for himself?"

"I can fend for myself fine, and you know it," Arend said with a grin. "Appreciate the backup though! We kick more ass together."

"So much more ass," Harlan agreed, nodding, his wheat-yellow hair bobbing in rhythm.

"Hella ass."

"So much ass we're swimming in it."

"We did two-man teams last time!" Desmond said. "This was supposed to be solo practice!"

Harlan tilted his head. "Don't recall anyone sayin' that." As he spoke he raised an arm and shot a quick cinder ball, which hit Shaun and singed him quite badly, forcing him to change back to human form or risk burning up entirely.

Arend flawlessly followed that up with synchronized neon bolts from both index fingers, leaving Shaun subdued as well. "Fantastisch, one more ass down."

"Yep, that- woah Nelly!" Harlan yelped, because quick-as-a-flash some thick green vines had burst from underfoot and twisted round his and Arend's legs, crawling up over their hips.

Arend whipped up a neon blade and tried hacking at the vine, but a thick rope of glittery metal shot out from somewhere up above and lassoed his hands tight behind his back. "Dammit Clay," he groused.

"Hey, if you and Harlan can team up, then me and Hannah can team up!"

"Can you ease up on the handcuffs though? This stuff's itchy as hell!"

"Gee, really!?" Clay was hiding in the shadows of the night, but you didn't have to see him to know he was rolling his eyes. "Sorry my element's silicon and not fricking goose-down feathers!"

Meanwhile the vines had ensnared Harlan and Arend completely, binding them together belly-to-belly. Harlan sighed good-natured defeat. "Well, if I gotta get hogtied to someone, then good thing it's you, darlin'." He smacked a kiss to Arend's cheek.

Hannah jumped down from the tree she'd been hiding in and walked up to join them. "It's getting real late and dark, guys. We should head back."

"Yeah, sure." Clay hopped off the low rooftop and started freeing his compatriots. "I'm runnin' little low on mojo anyway."

"We could stop by the beach, get you loaded up with sand on the way home," Desmond suggested.

"There's D.U.P. checkpoints if we go that way," Hannah said as she loosed the vine cocoon.

"We can take them!" Galina said with a sneer.

Harlan shook his head. "Negatory, Bill said do not engage them. Not now. Gotta have a fleshed-out game plan and get better with our powers first."

Muttering under her breath, Galina declined Clay's helping hand up, and brushed dirt from her jacket.

 

* * *

 

It was near midnight when they got back in. The whole group was tense from staying silent to evade detection, and the relaxation they felt upon entering the base was palpable in the air. Those of them that weren't dead-tired started chatting to each other, joking and even flirting a little, though some of the flirting was meant in jest.

Desmond had his arm around Clay's shoulder. "Y'think with enough practice you could make your silicon, like... super-smooth?"

"You want it completely smooth?" Clay asked with a knowing look. "Or you want it ribbed for added pleasure?"

"Maybe we'll charge extra for the ribbed version."

"Oh, so this is a moneymaking venture, not just you being horny."

"Hey, people pay out the wazoo for good dil- Oh hey Dad."

William had just come out of a doorway and grabbed Desmond's arm. "Kindly watch your conversation; there's a child present."

"Huh?" Desmond craned his neck to see behind William. Sure enough, a little kid, a girl with messily tied-back hair, was sitting on a beanbag chair in front of the television. "Hey, is that SpongeBob?"

The girl turned and shot him an eager smile. "Uh-huh!"

"Where did she come from?" Galina asked, as Desmond headed over to watch with her.

"Ran away," Rebecca said simply. "Family issues, best I can tell."

"You mean abuse?" Arend asked, his face darkening with a mix of concern and anger.

Rebecca shook her head. "I asked if anyone hurt her, and she said no."

"Could be in denial," Clay offered quietly.

A commercial break came on. Desmond muted the TV and leaned into the side of the beanbag. "Hey there. I'm Desmond. What's your name?"

"Elina."

Desmond smiled. "That's an awesome name. So pretty." He held out his hand. "Glad to meet ya, Elina."

But when she took hold of his hand to shake it, they both cried out sharply in unified pain. A blast of bright light coursed over their linked arms, and everyone looked on in shock as they fell forward onto the carpet.


	3. Chapter 3

"Elina!" "Desmond!" "What the hell happened?"

These and other overlapping cries of concern drowned the room in chaos for several seconds as everyone rushed to the fallen pair.

Harlan's long legs got there first, a split second before the rest. He knelt down and turned Desmond onto his back, and checked his pulse quickly.

William did the same with Elina. "Unconscious. But uninjured," he said, with some puzzlement obvious in the words.

"Not even burnt?" Arend said, looking over William's shoulder. "Could have sworn I saw Desmond zap her."

"He wouldn't do something like that!" Rebecca objected. "He's a total cinnamon roll, especially with kids!"

"It had to be unintended," Clay said quickly, stepping up beside her. "We're all of us still getting the hang of these powers."

"Knocked her out by accident, okay." Harlan rubbed his chin. "But why'd _he_ faint?"

"Oh that's just Desmond, he's always fainting," Shaun said with a wave of his hand, friendly snark covering his concern.

William was now kneeling by Desmond, looking him over closely with furrowed brow. He touched a cautious hand to one shoulder, and just then Desmond's eyelids shuddered open. "Urh. Wha'happen?"

"Near as we can tell, you friendly-fired on Elina," Clay said.

"I wha on who?" Desmond slurred. Then he pushed himself up on his elbows and saw her unconscious on the beanbag, and it came back to him. "Oh. Oh _shit_." He scrambled to his feet, a little unsteady, and backed away until he was against the wall, eyes wide.

"Dude, she'll be okay, probably," Clay said. "Conduit power knocked her out, Conduit power can wake her up."

Desmond shook his head. "I- I dunno if I should. Someone else do it."

Understanding, Clay nodded and held his hand out over Elina.

She came to with a gasp.

"Oh, woke up on her own." Clay lowered his hand and smiled at her. "Hey, how you feeling?"

She looked rather terrified, actually. And then she turned into a blast of light.

William gasped. Arend swore. Rebecca actually yelled in shock.

Elina zipped across the room and stopped, back in human form, tottering to one side drunkenly. She grabbed the doorframe and looked up. "What- what happened?"

"You're a Conduit," Hannah said, breathless with disbelief.

Elina just stood there, gripping on the doorframe, afraid that any moment her body might lose cohesion again.

"Light Conduit, just like our golden boy here." Arend looked to Desmond. "What're the odds?"

Elina's wide frightened eyes fixed on him as well.

"A Conduit doesn't usually manifest so young," Galina said plainly. "But... Desmond activated her."

"Looks like," Harlan agreed. "Now that'll add a twist on getting her back home. That is, if we're wanting to get her back."

Elina whimpered and shut her eyes, and became a cloud of photons again.

"Shit," Desmond blurted.

She buzzed around the room haphazardly, making everyone dodge out of her path.

"Elina!" Desmond grabbed her and, with a power he hadn't known about before, pulled her back into solidity. "Calm down, you're gonna be okay. We'll teach you how to control it."

Elina was looking all around with darting uncertain glances at the nine tall figures inspecting her. A few stray motes of light streamed through her hair. "Can't. Can't stay," she choked out. "You're... Assassins."

Desmond shifted back an inch. "Wow. What a thing to say. Where'd you get that idea?"

Elina broke free from his grasp and light-dashed once more, rolling over the table in a stream and making for the window.

"Shit!" That was Shaun this time, and he quickly moved to block her path with his body. Elina reformed just in time to crash against him, and he stumbled back. "Look, I'm sorry, but we can't have you out and about with unstable powers. Dangerous for yourself and for others."

Elina balled her fists and began to beat his chest.

"Come now, stop it, we're only trying to help!"

Shaun's entreaties went unheeded, though, and he ended up grabbing her tiny wrists to stop the assault. A mild shockwave traveled through him and he felt suddenly drained.

A third "Shit" came from Clay who had to run over to stop Shaun falling sideways.

 

* * *

 

While she and Shaun were unconscious, laid out on the couch and the beanbag, Clay put forth a hypothesis. "This kid's something even rarer than your standard run-of-the-mill Conduit, I think. Something so rare there isn't even a name for it."

"Whattya mean?" Desmond asked.

Clay breathed a deep breath, and then answered coolly. "You ever read Delsin's self-pub memoirs? Where he spills all the beans about living the Conduit life?"

"Uh, I _know_ the Conduit life."

"Oh, you don't know it like he does." Clay tilted his head to glance down the table at the others. "Seriously, am I the only one here who read Delsin's stuff? Becca, you said you were researching."

"I skimmed it," Rebecca admitted.

"Guess you skimmed past the part where he describes siphoning powers. It textbook matches what's happening here. Loss of consciousness, unintentional mindreading."

Harlan sat up. "Wait what? Mindreading?"

"Nobody told her we're Assassins, right? She got that from Des-o's memory banks."

"Oh great," Desmond groaned. "How much of my mind did she read?"

Clay shrugged.

"We can't take her back home, then," Galina said.

William sighed and put a hand on the side of his forehead. "Not unless we establish that she won't compromise us, no."

"And get her powers under control too," Arend said.

Hannah looked over at Elina. "You're saying she has light _and_ paper now? Really?"

"Hey, we'll find out for sure when she wakes up." Clay snapped his fingers. "And how about the rest of us be-powered folk try not to touch her, huh? Two elements to learn has gotta be frazzling enough."

"I'll take care of her, then," Rebecca said, kneeling to check on Elina's pulse again. "I'm concerned. She wasn't out this long the first time."

"Maybe she's just legit tired; it is one in the morning after all," said Desmond, getting up. "I really need to get some shut-eye myself."

Galina spread a blanket over Shaun and Rebecca picked up Elina to bring her to an actual bed.

"Isi," the little girl mumbled in her sleep as she was tucked in. "Missä olet, Isi..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> agghhh i'm sorry Juhani and Daniel you'll be appearing soon


	4. Chapter 4

Just a few hours after Elina sleepily mumbled "Missä olet?"- _Where are you?_ \- Juhani wanted to know the exact same thing in regards to her.

"My daughter!" he roared into the telephone. "She's left, she's run off into the night!"

"Berg, calm down, you're shouting-"

"How can I be _calm_? She's my _daughter_ and she's _gone_! I searched the entire block and there was no sign of her anywhere!"

"Stop _shouting_ at me, okay? I'll send our best tracker over ASAP."

"I need faster than ASAP, do you hear me Agent da Costa?!"

Violet sighed and hung up on him.

 

* * *

 

Juhani answered a knock on his door and saw a familiar face. "Agent Cross. You've been advised of the situation?"

A single nod was the reply.

"You will return her to me? Promptly?"

Daniel answered with a question of his own. "You have any clue where she went or why she left?"

Juhani's hand tensed on the doorframe. "She... was unhappy when I informed her more medical tests were needed."

Daniel lifted his head, eyes widening. "You mean for that lung thing? Pills not cutting it anymore?"

"Yes. She is worsening," Juhani lied smoothly. "Which is why we need her back _now_ , to adjust the treatment regimen."

"Damn. Okay, I got it." Daniel crossed the threshold and strode over to Elina's bedroom. The window was wide open, curtains moving in the breeze, and his lean frame slid through it easily. He turned back to speak once more to Juhani. "I've got my comms on," he said, tapping the small device in his ear, "so I'll keep you informed whatever I find."

"One more thing." Juhani handed over a syringe encapsulated in a plastic shell. "If she's exhibiting any symptoms when you find her- shortness of breath or coughing or the like- this is a fast-acting dose. I trust you can handle administering it."

"Yeah, you know I know injections." Daniel zipped the syringe into a pocket, and walked off into the morning daylight.

Half-a-minute later his earpiece buzzed, and Juhani came over the comm. "When you do find her, you must be gentle."

Daniel lifted his arm to answer via the tiny microphone sewn into his cuff. "Wasn't planning to hurt her."

"Of course not. What I mean is... be understanding. Talk to her. Calmly."

"Like you 'calmly' spoke to Da Costa on the phone," Daniel said dryly.

Juhani bristled. "Don't be insolent with me."

"All right, sorry. Anything else?"

"...No, that is all. Get to work, Agent Cross."

"I'm on it, sir." Daniel turned a corner onto a sidewalk busy with people, and let his mind fall into focus on the task of tracking the missing child.

 

* * *

 

"More evidence of bioterrorists running amok downtown last night; we now take you live to the scene, where officers found neon trails and-"

Clay angrily switched the TV off. "'Running amok', peh, we weren't running amok, we were just fucking _training_."

"We have to train Elina now too," Desmond said. "Can't send her home with uncontrolled powers."

"Yes, we've established that, thank you," Shaun said, rolling his eyes.

"Speaking of sending her home, how much do we know about her home life?" Arend said, and gave Harlan a meaningful glance. "Some parents hate Conduit kids as much as queer kids."

"That totally doesn't make sense," Desmond said with a perplexed shake of his head. "I mean, some shitheads try to say being queer is a choice, but being a Conduit's _genetic_! People _know_ it's genetic! You can even buy those genetic testing kits! We clearly got no choice about it!"

Shaun exhaled. "Humans fear the new and the different. Conduits are both."

Rebecca appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Heads up, Elina's coming, and she's not happy."

Elina and William entered shortly after, hand-in-hand. William led her to the table and poured her a bowl of cereal, then provided her with milk as well. All the while, she kept giving everyone else leery looks from behind her untidy bangs.

"Would you like juice, orange juice?" William asked.

"No thanks," Elina said in a small voice.

"Didja sleep well, Elina?" Desmond asked.

She glared at him. "Bioterrorist."

"Woah, chill out," Desmond said, straightening in his chair. It rattled him, hearing the B-word spat from such a young mouth. "We use the word 'Conduit' here; it's nicer."

"And you're a Conduit too, Elina," Shaun added. "In case you didn't realize from the events of last night."

Elina's spoon fell with a clatter; her left hand had flickered into a sheaf of white.

"Look, see, paper!" Clay said, pointing. "She's like Delsin, I called it."

Elina pulled her paper-hand close against her chest, shaking visibly. "I wanna go home."

"Will your parents be all right with you sporadically turning into paper and photons?" Shaun asked with soft sarcasm.

"Isi... my father..." Elina sniffled and wiped her nose with her own paper. Shaun looked a little disturbed but he didn't interrupt. "He d-doesn't like Bioterrorists."

"A lot of people don't," said Galina, leaning her chair back on the rear two legs. "But a lot of people are _misinformed_."

Hannah crouched near Elina. "Do you have someone else? Besides your father?"

Elina shook her head. "Melanie takes care of me sometimes. But Mother left."

"Ohh. That's sad."

"It's fine. Isi is good to me. How do I fix this?" She stuck her transformed hand out angrily.

"I was just going to say something about that," Shaun answered. "You need to calm down a bit, and clearly imagine your human hand."

Elina breathed out shakily. Slowly, her hand transformed back.

"There you go," Shaun said with a little smile.

"H-how do I make it go away? Forever?"

"I'm sorry, but you can't," Hannah said. "It's a part of you."

Elina trembled in her seat. "But I... can't go back home with this in me."

"Last night you said you didn't want to go home," Galina reminded her.

Elina frowned and turned her attention back to the cereal.

"Whereabouts do ya live, you and your father?" Harlan asked conversationally.

Elina frowned harder. "I can't tell you. You're Assassins."

Desmond huffed and set his palms on the table. "It doesn't mean what you think it means, okay? It's just... the name of our club." He leaned a little closer to her. "We don't run around shooting presidents and stuff like whatever other 'assassins' you've heard about."

Elina pulled away from him. "Assassins made Isi all burned."

Desmond's face quirked. "Huh?"

"He didn't used to be burned. But he went to work one day and got burned." She looked up from her cereal, dead serious. "He had to be in the hospital a long time. His friends he was with all died in the fire. Because of Assassins like you."

A heavy silence had fallen over the kitchen. Limbs shaking, Harlan got up and walked to the window.

"It can't be," Arend said.

"It sounds like it is," William said gravely, his lip curled in disgust. "Berg."

Elina blinked.

"Looks like she recognizes the name," Clay said.

Harlan choked a wry laugh. "Well, ain't that a kick in the head. We picked up Berg's _daughter_."


	5. Chapter 5

William approached Harlan standing on the edge of the roof.

Harlan heard him coming, and in a quick series of motions he tossed his cigarette down, stomped it out, and turned to face him.

"You were supposed to have quit those," William said, but calmly, as a neutral statement rather than a reprimand.

"Yeah, I... yeah." Harlan brought a hand up to smooth his hair, which was frazzled from how much he'd been running fingers through it these past fifteen minutes. "Wanted some help to calm down. But the damn thing wasn't hardly helping anyway, so it's just as well you came over here and made me chuck it."

"Mm. Will you be all right?"

"Yeah, I- I'm alright." Harlan exhaled, forcing his tense arms to relax. "Elina... she can't go back, right."

William made a small noise in his throat.

Harlan exhaled again. "God, I hate Berg's guts. And I never thought'a him as the fatherly type. But it gets me in a mess, thinkin' of him back at his place all worried 'bout his little girl."

"I was thinking we could use that, actually." William tapped his chin. "Berg might be convinced to give up information in exchange for her return."

"Assuming he really _is_ the fatherly type, yeah maybe."

"But she'd still know our location," William said. "We'd have to pack up and move this base somewhere else."

"Which ain't ever easy to do." Harlan hummed a sigh. "An' then there's the Conduit powers she's got now."

William nodded gravely and walked up to stand beside him, looking out on the skyline. A jagged spire in the distance was the local D.U.P. headquarters, bleak and heartless concrete a shadow over the rest of the town. "Until such time as she can keep it contained, it won't be safe for her to return. Any accidental transformations while at home and she'd most likely be put in custody."

"Yeah, but. She ain't happy here now she knows we're Assassins. She hates Assassins, and Conduits too, because that's how her dad taught her."

William turned to give him a small wry smile. "People are taught all sorts of hate by their parents, Cunningham. And they can unlearn that hate, with time and care."

Harlan chortled softly. "Never knew you could be so pollyanna-ish, Bill."

William just answered with an ambiguous "Mm." He beckoned Harlan to follow him.

They headed down the stairs on the side of the building and William led the way through the narrow alley. They passed by Clay, who was sat on a wooden crate with his hands in the air, gray powder dancing and shifting to and fro between them.

"Thought you said you were low on fuel," Harlan commented. "Shouldn't waste what ya got."

"I'm just practicing shaping it," Clay said sharply. He twitched a couple fingers and the silicon flowed into a loop, like a donut floating in midair. "So long as I'm not shooting it out at people, my reserves stay the same." He twitched another finger and the donut became a small dagger. He made to grab it, but just as his palm touched the hilt, the silicon lost cohesion and dissipated into powder again. "Uggh."

"Keep practicing," William said, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. They walked a little ways past Clay, turned a corner and traversed another alley.

"We going anyplace in particular?" Harlan asked.

"Desmond's set up a training spot with tarps spread over the alleyway, so the drones won't catch any glimpses," William answered. "He should be there, with Shaun and Elina."

"She gonna cooperate with training?"

"We'll see," William answered, and he would have said more, but a shout from Shaun echoed down toward them.

"Yes we're bloody Assassins, and you've just got to _accept that!_ "

Harlan and William turned the last corner and saw Elina pouting in a heap on the ground, Desmond sitting nearby and Shaun standing over her.

"We're Assassins but we are not trying to kill your father," Shaun continued, irritation grating. "In fact if you go back home with unmanaged powers you might end up killing him yourself!"

"Hey, don't tell her that," Desmond said, jumping to his feet.

"It's bloody true, though!"

Elina sobbed, a single loud cry that reverberated painfully.

Desmond knelt back by her side. "Hey, hey, sorry Shaun's being like this, please don't cry."

"Being like what?" Shaun asked with crossed arms. "How else am I supposed to be?!"

William stepped in. "Shaun," he said firmly over the beginning of another wail from Elina, "you're only escalating this incident. Go and find some other task."

After a moment of frustrated silence, Shaun grumbled and stepped away.

"Thanks, Dad," said Desmond. "Now we just need to calm _her_ down, before she alerts the whole city with her crying." He squatted down to Elina and held her by the shoulders.

With her eyes squeezed shut for crying, she hadn't seen his approach and so she jolted in surprise, intaking a sudden breath.

"Would you please, please not cry and scream like this?" Desmond said in the quick second available for him to speak.

"I- I-" she stuttered with shaky chokes, "I wanna go home to Isi!"

"Okay, I understand! Look, you can go home to him way sooner if you chill out and cooperate with the lessons we're tryna give you."

Elina sniffled loudly.

"You need a tissue?" Desmond dug in his pocket and miraculously found one. "Here."

She took it and wiped her eyes. A shiver went up her arms, skin fluttering into crinkly paper for a moment before settling back.

"Okay," Desmond said again, giving a tentative smile. "Lesson one: Conduit powers are tied to your mental state. To your feelings. If you're upset, your powers can be more, uh, powerful, but they'll also be way harder to control. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes." Elina balled her fists resolutely. "Isi says the same. Control my emotions, so they don't control me."

"What a Templar way to put it," Harlan commented. He and William were now resting against the alley wall, watching.

"I don't disagree, though," William said. "Many great catastrophes throughout time were caused by untamed anger."

With a nod, Desmond let go of Elina. "So okay. Lesson two is you gotta practice if you wanna get better. When I first got activated I was a lot like you: just random transformations without meaning to. But now I got a real handle on it." He raised a hand palm-out, pointing at a row of cardboard targets set up for precisely this purpose. "Basic shooting isn't too hard." A flash of light pulsed out of his hand and hit one of the targets nearly right in the center. The spot glowed brightly like glow-in-the-dark paint had been applied. He smiled at Elina. "Wanna show me what you've got?"

Elina looked unsure.

"C'mon, just- uh, just put your hand out and think like, 'pew, pew!' Something should come."

Shakily, Elina put her hand out as Desmond had. All eyes were on her for the next ten seconds. Then a weak puff of paper shreds fell from her thumb tip. She began to cry again.

"No, don't cry," Desmond said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's real good for a first try."

"It feels weird, I don't like it!"

Desmond nodded and began to answer, but a raucous noise and shouts came from up the alley. The whole foursome turned toward the sounds, and saw Clay grappling with a hooded figure.

"Bill!" Clay shouted, "this girl-"

"Don't call me a girl, fuckface!" the figure snapped.

"Guy, fine, you snuck up and tried to choke me out!" Clay was in danger of losing his hold on the stranger's arms, so using the last of his silicon he formed a long narrow cable and wound it around them tightly.

"Fucking what?!" The stranger struggled against his bindings. His hood fell down and Desmond saw intense eyes flash under a sheaf of blond hair. The eyes of a soldier.

"Daniel!" Elina cried out, her face brightening.

Desmond spun to face her. "You know this person?"

"That's Daniel! He works with Isi."

"I'm here to bring you home, Elina!" Daniel said.

Harlan shot a blast of smoke at him.

"What!? Oh god, you're bio-" was all that Daniel got out before the smoke rendered him unconscious.

"Nah, I'm gay-o, but points for trying." Harlan hefted the smaller man onto his shoulder and began to head back inside. "Another Templar guest now. Great. Just great."


End file.
